Project Invitender
by Crow Chick
Summary: Invisible Man/Pretender Crossover
1. Chapter One: Hunt for the Missing Keeper

"Project: Invitender"

Darien walked up to the keep, knocking twice before he slid open one of the heavy metal doors. 

"Hey Keepie, it's shot time," he called out, slipping into the lab chair. He rolled up his sleeve and glanced around, waiting for Claire to appear. 

She didn't. 

So after a few moments, Darien called out for her again:

"Claire, the red-eyed monster's gonna make an appearance here pretty soon if I don't get a shot." When he still didn't hear any response, Darien climbed out of the chair and began walking around the keep, looking for any sign of her. Everything seemed normal: Claire's precious fish were swimming happily, Darien the rat was running in his little wheel, and the high-tech computers were humming constantly. The door slid open behind him, and Darien turned...

"You're running late, Keep. What's the matter, alarm clock not-" he stopped abruptly. A short, red-head stood in front of him. Her pale skin was littered with freckles and a pair of thick glasses sat across her pointed nose. Producing a clipboard from behind her stark lab coat, she glanced up at him;

"Darien Fawkes, I presume?" She reached up with one finger to push the glasses back up her nose. 

"Uh, yeah.....quick question. Where's Claire?"

"Claire who?" the little woman blinked rapidly, clutching the clipboard to her non-existant chest.

"You know, my keeper? Tall, leggy blonde...British accent, super smart. Any of this ring a bell?" 

"I'm not aware of anyone fitting that description. I'm Tara, by the way, you're new keeper," she smiled a bit, bustling past him to one of the lab tables, "I believe you need an injection, yes?"

"Hang on a minute, new keeper? What happened to Claire?" Darien followed Tara urgently.

"I told you that I'm not aware of any former keeper, let alone someone named Claire. All I know is that I was assigned to come here and supervise your treatment for the duration of the experiment. Now, have a seat and I'll give you your shot." 

Darien slid back into the chair, rolling his sleeve back past his elbows. Someone had to know something about Claire. Hobbes was on vacation, Alex was on assignment....Eberts! He would know. Eberts knew everything, after all. Darien's thought process was rudely interrupted as Tara skimmed the side of his vein with the needle. He could've sworn that, judging by the expression on her face, she'd meant to, but he shook it off. When she was finished, he rolled his shirt sleeve back down and climbed off the table.

"Thanks...I ...uh...guess I'll be seein' ya around," giving a slight wave, Darien headed out of the keep and straight for the Official's office.

Meanwhile...

Angelo stared down at the Centre's new captive through the wire door of the ventilation system. She was pretty, the new one, with long blonde hair and a foreign accent. She seemed sad; earlier Angelo had heard her fighting against the sweepers to free herself. She had someone who needed her help, he could sense it. He tapped lightly on the vent door and the woman peered over. 

Squinting slightly, Claire noticed someone inside the air conditioning system and crawled across her cot. Lifting the steel off it's hinges, she smiled slightly. Her face was bruised and cut, and a bit of dried blood was resting near her hairline.

"Hello....my name's Claire. Who are you?"

Angelo liked her accent, he smiled.

"Angelo."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Angelo. Do you think you could do me a favor?"

He nodded slightly:

"Angelo get friend, friend help English."

Claire felt tears sting the back of her eyes and she smiled, taking his hands in her own:

"Thank you, Angelo."

He nodded and turned, scurrying away to contact Jarod. Claire slid the vent back into place and turned as the door to her cell opened. Her heart was beating so fast she could've sworn whoever it was would be able to hear it.

"Hello Doctor."

Well? Did ya like it? Hate it? Please read and reply either way!

~Erica~

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	2. Startin' the Puzzle

"Project Invitender: Part II"

**Startin' the Puzzle**

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the members of The Pretender or The Invisible Man cast. They're all property of their shows and the companies which produce them. Certain characters are mine, such as The Chief and I'll let you know when they pop up! :) Enjoy!_

Jarod reclined back against the overstuffed couch cushions of his hotel room and popped a cherry-flavored Pez into his mouth with a grin. He was busily preparing his new package for Sydney and the Centre gang, and he was positive it was going to stump them for quite awhile. Reaching over, he stuck the address stuck smoothly atop the brow-paper wrapped package and heard his laptop beep loudly.

_"You have mail."_

Raising a brow, Jarod leaned over and opened up the server. A new message lay waiting in his mailbox.

It was from Angelo.

_Friend,_

_ English need help._

_ Help English for Angelo._

_ Father keep English in Friend's old room._

Jarod closed the message and scratched the back of his head lightly, who's English? Firing up his latest search program, he began looking up anything he could find on new prisoners brought into the Centre. There was one new prisoner listed, brought in by Raines and his sweeper team earlier that day. Claire Keeply was her name, she'd been brought in yesterday, and there was no futher information listed. She was the only person he could find that could be this "English" Angelo had written him about. Looking for similar messages about the mysterious Ms. Keeply, Jarod managed to intercept an e-mail between Dr. Raines and someone named The Chief. 

_Dr. Raines,_

_ Claire's transfer forms have been accepted and filed safely away. She should prove to be a valuable asset to your latest project. Please let us know if she should cause any problems._

_Sincerely,_

_The Chief_

_(Director of Proj. Quicksilver)_

Tucking the renegade e-mail away into a safe folder, Jarod decided there was only one thing to do:

He'd go see Angelo.

Claire stood, turning to face her visitor, using her full height to her adavantage.

"Good evening, Miss Keeply, my name is Mr. Lyle."

"I'd say it's nice to meet you, Mr. Lyle, but I don't like to be too cordial with my kidnappers."

"You haven't been kidnapped, you've been transferred. The Centre is your new place of employment; you'll be helping us in our new project. I believe these are yours," Lyle produced a stack of files and Claire immediately recognized them to be her Quicksilver files. 

"How did you get a hold of these?" Claire took the files and glanced up at him questioningly.

"Like I said, you'll be helping us with our new project. We're interested in your knowledge dealing with Invisibility. I'll be back to speak with you later, I have a meeting to attend." Lyle turned and left, the door shutting loudly behind him.

Claire turned and set the files on top of her cot, frantically crawling over to the vent.

"Angelo?!" she whispered urgently.

When there was no response, she called out to him once more. 

Exhausted, Claire collapsed on top of the lumpy cot, curling up on one side. She closed her eyes, wrapping her hands around the Quicksilver files, and she saw Darien in her dreams.

Darien exploded into The Official's office, his rather loud entry causing both Eberts and The Fish to glance up at him.

"Ok, Fat Man, where's Claire?"

"She's been transferred, Fawkes, that's all you need to know." The Official glanced back down at his paperwork.

"Transferred? Did she ask for one? Or.....did you send her away?" Darien leaned over, staring down the two men with silver eyes. 

"Mr. Fawkes," Eberts explained, "this transfer was completed on a need to know basis."

"Yeah, yeah, and I don't need to know. Shut up Eberts." He turned back to The Official, "Where'd she go, Fat Man?"

The Official sighed, glancing slowly up at Darien.

"We don't know, Fawkes. The order came from the highest authority."

"Well actually, sir, I managed to discover that she was transferred to a place in Blue Cove, Delaware called the Centre."

"Eberts, how did you get details from a top secret file?" The Official seemed amused.

"I...uh...have a friend in the typing room. He processed Claire's transfer forms. I can get you a copy if you'd like, Darien." 

"Yeah, actually, that'd be great Eberts. ASAP, k?" 

Eberts nodded and scurried out the door leaving The Official and Fawkes to glare at each other.

  
  



End file.
